Nation in White
by ocean-view-luffy
Summary: Arthur Kirkland is an English merchant traveling to Sawara when he is delayed at a Takoyaki stand. With his driver mysteriously gone, and only a warning of the road ahead, Arthur learns that a ghost isn't always easy to identify.
1. Ride onward and pray

Nation in White

On a rickety old bridge, in the middle of a vast forest, a carriage sped up the winding dirt road. Rocking back on its wheels, the carriage bumped and jumped in the night sending its passenger to and fro against the sides. "Yousei-san! Please be careful; I wish to make it to Sawara in one piece!" the passenger cried out. The gentleman inside smoothed back his blond hair in an attempt to regain his composure and sat back into the plush seat.

Arthur Kirkland was an English merchant, born and raised in Leicester. How he ended up in a carriage speeding towards Sawara, Japan was just business as usual. On this particular night, Arthur was sent to do business with a local Sake merchant. He had heard Sawara dealt with sake and ikebana, but nervously picked at his nails when no rice fields or homes were in sight. Nothing but thick, black forest coated the outside of the road; and the land of the rising sun had its luminous name extinguished in the night. In all seriousness it was rather frightening, and Arthur questioned whether or not his driver, Yousei-san, knew what he was doing. Though Arthur only got a brief look at the coachman, he could have sworn the man almost looked…green. How very odd and fairy like.

Another jolt of the carriage sent Arthur's thoughts of Yousei into a rage. "Yousei-san! It's dark as ink, and the bitumen forest makes travel hard enough. Please spare a traveler's heart and slow the horses, lest I die of excitement" he screeched. Yousei-san, apparently listening to his passenger's pleas, stopped the horses suddenly; sending the Briton crashing into the curtained wall. "Yousei! Why did we stop?" The Englishman peered out of his frost bitten window and stared upon a warm looking hut. With its decrepit roof and slumping sides, Arthur could only manage to read the Kanji fluttering on the white talisman clinging to the gutter. "Takoyaki…a food stand? Yousei-san, do you need food at this moment or can we just leave?". There was no reply. The foreign man opened the carriage door hesitantly and peered up at the driver's seat.

Empty.

Where Yousei had run off to was a mystery; the path was silent, yet everything in the woods surrounding it seemed to creak, shift, and rustle. With no other way of knowing how to reach Sawara, Arthur tethered the horses and padded quietly to the shop at the side of the road. As he reached the curtain partition he was overcome with fear, but pushed himself to part the curtains and ask for help.

"S-sumimasen" he stuttered awkwardly. The inside of the shop was quite small, and four bodies crammed themselves inside. "Harro" one greeted, holding a plate of freshly cooked takoyaki. "You—speak English?" Arthur questioned. The dark haired man nodded. "Yes. A little". Besides the long haired oriental man, the other three sat crowded by the corner bar, which resembled more of a warped wooden plank nailed to the wall. One had the same facial features of the oriental man, but the thick eyebrows of an Englishman. A woman sat next to him, her pink dress sleeves stained with a little frying oil. The fourth being was bouncing in his chair, a particularly happy cowlick bobbing from his raven hair.

"You're clothing is not native to here, I assume you're not Japanese". The first man shook his head. "No, no. I am Chinese. My name is Wang Yao." The fourth man spoke up next "I'm Korean! Yong Soo—and don't you forget that Japan only got half its Asian stuff because we traded with them first. Oh and the two silent ones over there are Taiwanese and one if from Hong Kong". The remaining two remained silent, not even introducing their names.

"I am Arthur Kirkland, I'm from England. I was hoping you could help me. You see, my driver has seemed to have disappeared. I need to get to Sawara by morning." Wang set his plate down in front of Yong Soo and sighed deeply. "I hate to inform you, but tonight is not a very lucky night for travel. I urge you to stay here until morning." The Englishman felt his face heat up with aggravation. "Sorry, you don't understand. I need to get there by morning. For you see, I'm in competition with another man who also wishes to purchase the sake from a Sawara merchant. I cannot possibly lose to him." Arthur thought of the man he was in competition with. Alfred Jones, an American merchant who liked to steal deals from under the Englishman's nose. It was bad enough he took pity on the poor abandoned American in his youth, taking him in as his own brother. His kindness allowed the American to learn all his secrets as a prodigy, only to have his heir then take up business of his own and try to ruin him. How it made his blood boil.

The Chinese man fussed with his hair tie as he thought. "If your competition means more than your very life then you may go. Just be warned of the road ahead. Many a foul creature will roam the nightscape hoping to prey on travelers. If an animal darts into the road, keep driving; even if its guts are spilt. Do not stop at crossroads for a long time. Stay upon your seat at all times, and remember this if not all; beware the white ghost of the hollows." Yong Soo shivered at the thought, and scarfed down his food to quell his own fright. Arthur stared into Wang's eyes and saw his words were true.

"You have been understanding and helpful to me. Thank you, all. When I return from Sawara I shall bring a token of my appreciation." The Englishman bowed quickly and exited the shop, quickly hopping up onto the carriage driver seat. Wang closed his eyes and shook his head solemnly. "You see this, Yong Soo. To the west, money is valued more than life; though when a life is spared it continues to make more money. How foolish they are". He watched Arthur take the reins into his hands and gallop off into the night.


	2. for death always approaches

Nation in White

Arthur bounced up and down on the wooden slab seat as he sped off into the night. The road ahead was course and thick with overlying branches. They slapped against the top of the empty carriage and broke as he cut through with incredible speed. Wang's warnings echoed in his head, and now Arthur was feeling the forest around his for the first time. Even as he sped, it watched and waited just beyond the heavy cloak of darkness. The blond yelped as he hit a bump that almost sent him from his seat. Grasping the wood with his fingernails he breathed in deeply, remembering not to carelessly fall off.

Whether Arthur had been traveling minutes or millennia was uncertain, as the night seemed to stretch out endlessly before him. The air felt icy and cold, and it tampered with his heart. One moment a surge of hot courage was followed by a thud of icy cold fear. The cycle repeated endlessly with no warming middle ground insight. The man clamped his eyes shut at the sound of another small creature crushed beneath his wheels; a terrible screech and squish ending it. So terrible was the night that Arthur prayed the sun would rise when his eyelids opened. No such thing happened; no matter how many times the man fluttered his eyes close.

About three fourths of the way into his journey to Sawara, Arthur heard a terrible yell. The woods around him trembled and separated several yards ahead of the carriage. As per orders, the blond clenched the reins tightly; preparing to run over whatever ran out into his path. Unexpectedly, a slim figure darted into the road. A slender young man with pale skin and raven hair, frantically clutching his kimono and calling out; "Help! Help me please!" Unsure he could live with himself for running over a man, Arthur planned to pretend he didn't see the man and keep driving. The young man darted into the center of the road, and waved one arm frantically. Now Arthur could see him more clearly.

The man in the road wore a tattered white kimono, with nothing underneath. No even tabi socks to keep the mud off his feet. The garment had been slashed at repeatedly, and though there was no injury to the skin Arthur could clearly see the deep V line leading to the man's private regions. His tear stained face was too much to bear, as droplets spilled from chocolate eyes and mused the piece raven bangs around them. Arthur slowed the carriage in front of the man and spoke to him. "What are you doing out here in such a state?" Frantically the man spoke to him, every so often turning to check the forest. "My name is Honda Kiku! I live in Sawara. I-I was out here looking for my dog, Pochi, when this great thing attacked me. It was an incredibly tall man with the whitest skin I've ever seen, so ghost like! He pulled out a knife and cut my clothing off, preparing to do something most terrible to my body. I managed to escape, but he's following quickly; Oh please, Sir, help!" Arthur's stomach lurched at the thought of some ghost preparing sacrifices in the forest, and by the way Kiku was shaking it seemed like no lie.

"Hurry and climb up here, I'll keep you next to me in case it follows the carriage. Quite honestly, I don't think a driver can hear anything within the carriage, and you're much too frightened to be alone." Setting the reins down on his legs, Arthur extended both of his hands, locking them around Kiku's wrists. As he pulled him up into the seat, Kiku was forced to let go of the remnants of his kimono; the tattered white cloth falling to reveal his naked lower half. Blushing deeply, Arthur offered his coat to cover the other's nakedness, which the other refused. "You need it more than I do, Honda-san, please take it" But Kiku once again refused the garment, and instead sheepishly covered himself with his hands. They rode deeper into the forest and Arthur tried to speak to Kiku to distract his from the situation. "What do you do in Sawara?" "I am an ikebana artist". The blond smiled, Kiku looked delicate enough to be involved in ikebana. His pale skin shone in the moonlight, and hair rustled with every little bounce of the carriage. "How nice, you must be very good at it" the Englishman said, trying to keep his eyes from wandering down the man's body. Though he did give into temptation when the carriage suddenly hit a large bump, sending Kiku's arms flying from his body and onto the sides of the seat. Arthur stole a glance at the body next to him hurriedly. Beneath the pale skin rippled lean muscle, faint but there. The man's well kept body was illuminated by the moonlight, casting shadows and highlighting his features. Emerald eyes found their way down the V line to the man's exposed lower half, where a cold member quivered embarrassedly under the stare. Realizing he was looking, Arthur snapped his head upright towards the road; Kiku who had realized his display quickly covered himself once more, his face red with shame.

No sounds followed them through the forest, and Arthur felt relieved. Whatever was stalking travelers in the woods was not ambitious enough to attack two men at the same time. To his joy the carriage neared upon a crossroad. To the right were more woods, to the left the trees thinned into a clearing dotted with the lights of lanterns. "Sawara. We're here, Kiku. You have nothing to fear" He chuckled, steering his horses to the left. "Wait!" Kiku cried out. Arthur let the reins go slack as he turned towards his travel partner. "It's just that my home is to the right. I cannot go through town like this, and if it was a room you're looking for, the hotels are rather filthy. Go to the right and I can give you a warm bed and good food as thanks for your kindness." Arthur didn't feel right going the opposite direction, but he had also had his fair share of crummy hotels. The sickly silence at the crossroads reminded him of his warning and he veered right, taking Kiku home.

They trotted down the path and Kiku started humming happily. Approaching a small hollow, Kiku's hum broke into soft song and Arthur stopped and listened.

"Oh the traveler's trail is so far and long;

A haunting tune, for devils immune, an old time travel song.

As crossroads fade, and worlds do shade, the travelers lose their might;

By throw of fate, a chance they take, they ne'er see morning light"

Arthur jolted upward and spun to face Kiku. What he saw was not Kiku, or human at all. Deep sunken in sockets set around a decaying face. Rivers of blood pooling on his exposed collar bone from their path at the base of the eyes. Chipped bones gleamed white and sharp, as the rest of the gray flesh sagged and flapped around what was once a soft and alive young man. Arthur screamed and fled from his seat. In his horror he miscalculated his landing and his foot twisted and shattered beneath him. White with fright, he clawed at the ground and dragged himself up the road. The ghost in white followed until he was alongside the writhing foreigner. From the hollow cavity in his chest he produced a long sharp blade. Arthur was pinned down by a decaying hand and a skeletal one handled the knife with ease, cutting through his garments. A horrible second verse spilled from the putrid mouth as the knife removed the man's clothing.

"To thinly slice, one mustn't stop;

A work much like the butcher's shop.

He took them all like cows they breed;

Of German, French, and Italian greed."

Arthur could feel the blade slice deep into his calf muscle, the pain sending him into fits of fright. The knife withdrew and brought itself down close to the first cut, thinly carving his leg. The horrid ghost hummed its own instrumentals as he continued the torturous routine practiced on other travelers.

"Oh how the night does sing;

Oh the treasures it does bring.

A Russian spine fit for a pipe;

A Grecian cat set alight.

Spanish doubloons and Austrian scores;

Hungarian pots and tempting English Moors"

Arthur summoned the strength to reach out his hand and claw at the frozen earth; his nails only scratching the hard surface of the road. The ghost of the hollows left the spiral cut leg alone, though it was bleeding profusely. Every piece hung limply off his bone, assuming the sagging shape of a leg. Moving onward to his back, the being sliced itty bitty pieces of skin off the muscle.

"Twenty seven stood to fight;

Twenty eight had died of fright.

The things I do are not my will;

But vengeance for my horrid kill.

I will not rest, I cannot wake;

I can only find more souls to take"

The blood on the road had drained Arthur, whose fright had dipped with his heart rate, now a dull pulse. He heard the ghost's rhymes very clearly, not even feeling the flesh being removed from his body. Sadly enough, the decayed being hadn't changed at all. The skeletal fingers removing his flesh were once milky white and soft. He saw it so clearly. The wiry threads protruding from the scalp were once thick, lush and black. This poor thing, this horrible thing, was Honda Kiku. Whether he wanted to trick Arthur or not, the fear on his face as he exited the forest was real; for he was the twenty-eighth the rhyme spoke of.

Eyelids shutting, Kiku continued his rhyme; hoping his victim would still be alive to hear it.

"They come by night, I ride beside;

My being changes like the tide.

For it is natural, and so am I;

All living things, deserve to die"

The blonde's eyes closed gently, and Kiku dragged the carcass to the hollows and lay it down in the sediments. He then turned away from the mess, his skeleton filling out with soft ghostly flesh as the cycle repeated itself.

There he left Arthur, amongst the bones, leaves, and the hollowed out carcass of his American competition.


End file.
